Protesters of Navy Bombing Mull Strategy

Puerto Rico Independence Party leader Ruben Berrios returned to Vieques on Tuesday to resume a civil disobedience campaign intended to stop Navy bombing on the island, which resumed Monday after more than a year’s hiatus.

Berrios was met by a small group of fellow protesters and reporters as he arrived at the airport on Vieques, a small island off Puerto Rico’s mainland. He had camped on the Navy range here for nearly a year, helping spearhead the protests before he and 223 others were removed during a federal raid that began last Thursday.

“I’m asking the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico to stay calm, vigilant but calm,” said Berrios, who had been taken to the mainland during the raid.

U.S. Navy warplanes dropped “dummy” bombs--bombs with no live munitions--at the training ground Monday, fulfilling a Navy pledge to resume operations despite protesters’ claims that some colleagues were still on the range. The Navy says it knows of no holdouts.

The protesters had occupied the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet range on Vieques since April 1999, when civilian security guard David Sanes Rodriguez was killed by stray bombs. The protesters say decades of bombing have harmed their health, stunted tourism, harmed endangered species and destroyed fishing grounds, coral reefs and mangroves.

But the Navy says Vieques is vital to national security because it is the only place where the Atlantic Fleet can hold simultaneous air, land and sea training. President Clinton and Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello agreed in January to let the Navy resume limited training with “dummy” bombs and, in exchange, let Vieques residents vote--probably next year--on whether the Navy should leave by 2003.

Berrios refused to say Tuesday how he would continue his protest. While all protesters removed from the range were released without charge, anyone who reenters the compound faces tough penalties: up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine under an order issued by President Clinton.

Coast Guard ships patrolled off Vieques on Tuesday and Marines guarded the range’s perimeter. About 50 Puerto Rican police officers protected the gates to the range’s Camp Garcia. Nearby, protesters erected a new tent camp outside Navy property.

Vieques’ fishermen, many of whom were detained last week, claimed Tuesday that a 3-mile-wide no-entry zone around the range was preventing them from reaching fishing grounds and lobster traps. The zone is being enforced by the Coast Guard. Some fishermen said they might try to run the blockade on Wednesday.

Coast Guard ships have turned away at least 56 vessels since the blockade was imposed Thursday, according to the Joint Information Center at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, which administers the Vieques range.